P is for Perfect Debut for PLS in Pensby

For the 11th round of the 2018 season I went straight form work tonight to join over 20 of my good friends at Penny Lane Striders for the final round of the Wirral multi-terrain race series. A popular curtain-raiser to the cross country season, it comprises four diverse events starting at 10km for the opening round and cutting back to 7.5km for the finale, to account for fading light. I parked up at the Toby Carvery in Arrowe Park near Pensby at 5:45pm and was greeted by a few pay and display signs, only for the single machine to be out of order. With Wirral Council counting their losses and us rather happy that we didn't have to pay 50p for rather less than one hour (as it's free from 6:30pm) I walked down to the finish funnel with a few teammates and we embarked on a warm-up run around the second half of the course, the route being something of a double-oval joined by a chute through the woods. By the time we returned, having got completely lost at the furthest point of the course, some latecomers had swelled the black and white's entry to the point where we would probably have as many as five men's teams and a couple of ladies' trios (5 per team to count for the men, three for the ladies). As the final few minutes were counted down the juniors were funneled to the right side of the start area and the race director got an ovation from the hordes assembled as he's stepping down after 20 years of sevice to athletics on the Wirral. As per his own self-styled tradition, he said we would set off when he shouted GO, and after a rather sotto voce attempt to give us the green light the leaders crossed the start line, we followed and the two-lap race was underway.

I kept a waching brief on where my teammates were early doors; if I was to have any chance of making waves on my first PLS appearance a fast start was critical, this being a fairly narrow course where passing can be difficult. In addition I've often bogged down badly at the start of Manchester cross country races for St Helens Tri and as such I really wanted to be out of traffic if at all possible. During most of the first lap I was trying to stay with a junior from Wirral AC who had higher peaks and lower troughs than my consistent, but rarely explosive speed. That's because I only returned to hard running a couple of weeks ago and even now a tough run can leave my shin sore the following day, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was so I was at least confident of finishing the race. I also battled hard with a runner from Wallasey AC; he would drop back but the Wirral junior was flying at what turned out to be the front of the junior race. They only ran one lap to our two which accounted for why she suddenly turned left at the play area towards the end of lap one and went up a climb which would catch us all out later on. Back to our race, the start of the second lap was marked by a few depth perception moments when I struggled to make out the differences in surface through the forest, once even coming close to falling over on the remnants of a thich twig fallen from the trees overhead, but at least it was nice and dry so the decision to use the grippier racing flats (the Asics ultrasofts rather than the Saucony hypersofts) had proved to be the best choice instead of buying dedicated trail shoes. They can wait for the proper mud run season. We crossed the bridge a second time before the left-right chicane at the end of the forest and I was alongside some bloke who recognised the PLS vest; I had just enough breath to utter "are you Penny Lane" to which he nodded; now I wasn't sure whether I was racing or helping him catch the short-race specialists who were beginning to tire ahead. In any case we made our way up the long hill for the second time and on the descent we came across the last-placed runner who was running with one of the helpers; well done to them for sticking it out and not giving up on such a tough course. For my part I had pinpointed the chute through the woods as my chance to attack to steal points for the team, and a Mersey Tri runner plus some guy from Ellesmere Port who's shorter than Raheem Sterling must have got the shock of their lives to see someone with such bad control on technical sections attack as the marshals said "300 metres to go". However, I'd forgotten about the final mini-rise through the woods where the junior runner had scooted away on lap 1 and with the Ellesmere Port runner still breathing rather heavily down my neck I knew it was now or never to seal the deal, so I did my usual 200m special of "sprint until you drop" and it was enough to secure 41st position at the line, one place and around ten seconds behind Ross White who led our club home, with Colin and Julian not far behind and Stella leading the ladies home (and winning her age group for the season no less) to cement the PLS position of being the biggest and best running club in Merseyside.

After the remaining runners crossed the line we made our way to the clubhouse for teas and coffees and a few selfies, although I'd already made my own contribution to the photo album with a little balancing act against the side of the Yaris; at least now I know I am less likely to spend the XC season face first in mud. We exchanged stories about the six world "major" marathons and how theynow form a much longer bucket list than when it was all about London in the 80s and 90s, let's just say PLS can be found everywhere these days. There weren't any vegan options on the buffet so I decided to make my way home and raid the local chippy for the ultimate junk food; vegan chips and curry with a can of 13 Guns American IPA, just what every race evening should finish with. There's only three weeks to go before St Helens Tri open their XC season at Wythenshawe but PLS have even more dates to choose from; I think the Runners Hub in Heswall will be getting both trail shoe and spikes orders from me on Thursday when I go to run with them, that was the most fun I've had off-road in a long while!

Now for the results, in association with the Toby Carvery, Arrowe Park:

Distance: approx. 7.5km

Time: 28:09

Final Position: 41st out of around 250 runners

Dangerous Twigs: 1

Car Park Takings: Zero

Post Race Nutrition: 10/10 (Black coffee after the race then chips, curry and 13 Guns, enough said)

REJECT OF THE RACE: The pay and display machine
(Wirral Council now over £200 down thanks to ill-timed technology fail)

That's another one in the books. Good luck to everyone doing the Sandstone trail race on Sunday!